The BioDome
by TheShibe
Summary: What if Judy and Nick wandered too far out and realized that the whole time the animals had lived in a dome? Inspired by Tower of Babel by MartyrFan and The Maze Runner trilogy, but no characters from the stories mentioned (Except Bellweather haha). R&R as usual
1. Prologue

_A/N: Hey guys! Hope you guys like this story. As per normal, R &R. Enjoy!_

Prologue

The Flare. An evolved virus to… control the population. The world was overpopulated and this was the only solution. Survivors who contracted it would go insane and feral. As the bodies piled on in the millions, the authorities realised that they had made a mistake. It was spreading too fast. As humanity dwindled down into a hot stinking mess, the lucky few millions who were immune hid beneath the ground, waiting it for it to die out. All of humanity's achievements were gone in the dust. Naturally, some were prepared for this scenario and had underground bunkers to house scientists, mechanics, engineers… fixing any problems these vaults might have.

(100 years later)

It was unbelieving. Somehow, the Flare had transformed into an evolutionary virus, its code rewritten by the scientists and Mother Nature. It sped up evolution. Naturally, to study further upon the virus, there were copies of it in its original form, under lock and key in a hidden laboratory. It had fingerprint security, heat detectors, foot sensors, retina scanners, fingerprint scanners, all the technological goodies from the past.

With ethics thrown out of the window, they tested the virus on innocent animals such as rabbits, hares, foxes, anything they chanced upon. This of course was intended to aid humans in being evolving to be immune to any other future strains of 'The Flare'. However, their 'testing' had produced some unintended results. The virus had caused the animals' cortex to expand significantly, with some rabbits shakily standing on their hind legs.

(Five decades on)

There had been no doubt by the scientists that their predecessors had created something quite amazing. Animals were gaining a conscious and spy links reported the animals beginning to build structures similar to those in the Bronze Age. Premature Agriculture methods had been developed by the animals and a basic form of language had been established. Interestingly, these animals had decided to name their town 'Zootopia', perhaps influenced by the animal enclosures their forebears had been held captive in.

It had been 150 years since the Flare, and humans had adapted to the underground environment due to the enhanced Flare virus. With their agriculture, technological and social problems solved, humanity turned to the next big thing. What was humanity going to do with the evolved animals?

After much consideration and debate within the Confederation of Humans, their new government, it was decided that humanity would be a bystander and let the animals evolve. The engineers then embarked on setting up cameras and the electrical wiring to keep a close eye on the animals.

(decades after)

Of course, the humans wanted it easier to keep track. Thus, there happened to be dictionaries and thesauruses left around the slightly more advanced animal city, which now had buildings resembling Victorian architecture. The animals had not really thought about why the books were there, they just followed along and set up a language extremely similar to 21th century English. Humanity quietly watched as Ludwig Van Barkthoven, a dog, play a glorious masterpiece on an animal version of Fur Elise on the piano, with certain modifications such as staccato pedals and so on. They watched the many parallels to human society and decided to be more proactive by helping them avoid human mistakes like pollution. Some of the eco-friendly generators and fuel were placed in the city for the animals to develop and use.

(Present)

It was incredible what had happened. A sheep had chanced upon a flower which contained the old version of the Flare and farmed it for her grand scheme: Turning all predators into savages and then promote species hegemony for prey. Thankfully, the situation had been controlled through a brave bunny and a charming fox known as Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde respectively. It was a close call, but the shipment of plants labelled explicitly as 'Night Howlers' (the animals' name for that plants) with a list its effects had probably helped the bunny identify the true culprit. With this cosmopolitian city saved, humanity embarked on colonising other planets to bring more resources. Thus, they left their home planet for other planets, leaving a small crew of one thousand dedicated scientists to control the situation.

The 'Night Howlers' were placed into a large warehouse, along with the antidote and some other serums (which cured some animal sicknesses). After its construction, most of humanity promptly left the planet so as to not drain the planet's resources further.


	2. A new day

A New day

 _T.S: Wow! I really did not expected to gain THAT Many Favs in 6 hours! Pumped out this chapter to entertain you guys. Please review this so I can improve it ^-^_

 _Phone: iPhone_

 _Zkype- Skype_

 _Zinstagram: Instagram (like Zoogle- Google hehe)_

Judy's POV

The petite bunny officer sighed as she hopped into bed. Chief Bogo had assigned her yet another theft case and with Nick's contacts in the criminal underworld, it was easily solved. She could never understand why despite solving the famous 'Night Howler' case one year ago, Chief Bogo still treated her and Nick Wilde with contempt. Her partner, Nick Wilde was definitely not helping their case by provoking the easily-angered cape buffalo boss. This meant they were regular visitors to the Evidence room, perhaps the most dreaded room in the entire ZPD. It was full of never ending paperwork which was way worse than being a meter maid, which was no easy feat. It wasn't just demoralising, it was time-consuming and painstaking.

Of course, her over-protective parents Zkyped and asked about the events. As she prepared to switch off the lights before she went to sleep, her phone buzzed. With her super sharp hearing, it was hard for her to miss a sound. As she tapped the button on her mobile device, a notification from Nick popped out. 'Dumb Fox: Hey there, Carrots. Nod off yet?'

Nick's POV

'Carrots: Not yet. My neighbours are arguing again. Amazed that the wall hasn't crumbled yet after their shouting matches. And the central heating just refuses to work.'

'I had enough of this non-stop paperwork! Chief Bogo can't fire us anyway, what with us being the face of the ZPD.'

'Carrots: He's already blowing his top off at your incessant pranks. If you had stopped pranking him maybe he would have given us a chance.'

'Hey, it wasn't my fault he decided to take the wrong donut. C'mon, even Clawhauser was laughing. Can't he take a joke?'

'Carrots: Alright, perhaps tomorrow we should ask Ben on how to convince Bogo. Good night.'

'Come on, no banter like every night?'

Nick sighed as Judy's A-chat online status went from 'online' to 'Last seen at 12.40am'. He fervently wished that his 'dumb bunny' was more nocturnal so they could have late night chats. Now, on for another level of 'Cricket Crush', the insanely popular game, before he drifted off to sleep…

(The next day)

*Alarm clock rings*

Nick yawned as he stretched his limbs. He did his usual morning routine: polishing his shiny teeth, moisturising his fur with Fur-shine, applying cologne (to impress Judy and you have to smell good when working on a case, don't you?' and finally donning the police uniform.

As he looked into the mirror to check his image, an uncomfortable memory resurfaced; him in his junior Cub Scouts uniform happy as day, and then his 'friends' came, and then muzzle…

He pushed aside the thought. He had been a cop for one year; there were only minor hiccups. Plus, antagonising the boss was always fun and Benji always had the right donuts for the right situation. As he checked his phone, a message popped up:

'Carrots: Hurry up, sly fox. It's already 8.30 and if you go off any later we wouldn't be able to ask Clawhauser.'

He paused, thinking for an apt reply, before finally replying, 'Dumb bunny. I'll be there by 9. There's more than enough time to pop the question.'

(after heading to Furbucks)

He inhaled the magic elixir quickly. Being a nocturnal animal, he was always tired in the day, and coffee was his elixir for staying alert. Although he originally liked cricket-flavoured coffee, he decided to order two carrot Frappuccinos – one for him and one for Judy. Somehow, Judy had managed to convince him to savour the taste of a carrot Frappuccino. Then again, she was a very persuasive bunny.

Judy's POV

*Buzz*

Judy's A-Phone buzzed again. Judy resisted the temptation to give the screen a quick glance as she was on her way to work. After all, she was an exemplary police officer and she could not glance at her phone when driving to work. Chief Bogo made that quite clear after he found through Benjamin that they were texting each other frequently.

Arriving 30 minutes before their work day started, she pulled out her phone faster than a pickpocket could (no doubt Nick would have teased her immediately, calling her 'sly bunny' again).

'Dumb Fox: Hey Cottontail. Grabbed an extra carrot Frappuccino just in case you needed one.'

'Aww… thanks!'

'Dumb Fox:Well, had to just in case a certain Dumb Bunny forgot to get one…'

'That's it! I'm telling Ben to give me your daily donut!'

Nick POV

Arriving at 9.20 am, he dashed to the receptionist desk to Benjamin Clawhauser, the friendliest face in the force.

'Umm… sorry Nick. She kind of took your donut, and…'

Before Clawhauser could finish his sentence, Nick dashed to the Task Assignment room, looking for Judy.

'Hey! Give me my donut back! I did bring that extra carrot Frappuccino!'

Judy smirked, as if she had planned this scenario all along. 'Unfortunately, unless you behave and not screw up or play pranks today, I'm not returning that donut and we can't go on that one-week break.'

Nick sighed, thinking of ways to capitalise on this situation.' Well, Carrots, I also took your carrot pen and recorded you burping. I mean, I'm totally fine with uploading it on Zinstagram… Now, how about returning that donut?'

Judy glared, causing Nick to smile to himself secretly (admittedly, Judy did look adorable when she was pouting) and hopped as high as she could to reach the carrot pen back from Nick. Unfortunately, height was not on her advantage and she couldn't hop high enough.

Nick grinned, mouthing the line only Judy would hear. 'It's just a hustle, sweetheart.' Judy reluctantly returned the donut as Nick pawed the pen to her, along with the carrot Frappuccino that he had promised.

Just then, Chief Bogo stormed in, with his classical sheet of paper with the duties. 'Officer Wolfe… robbery in Sahara Square. Officer Snow… Theft in Tundra Town.' Nick yawned as roll call went on. 'And you two… Officer Wilde and Hopps… in my office. Special case.'


	3. The new Night Howlers Case

_T/S: Hey! This is the chapter where the main plot (getting out of the BioDome) is going to start. Hope you enjoyed the subplot (Nick and Judy's relationship!) Anyways: Fox Stevenson is currently my favourite artist for music right now. Cameo in the text below. Please rate and review so I can make this story wayyyy more exciting for you guys._

 _Crimammal-Criminal_

Night Howlers

Chief Bogo was seriously adamant about assigned them to this task. It was rated B+ in difficulty, with A+ being the hardest. Then again, they had solved the Night Howler/Missing Mammals case which was an 'A'.

'Take a seat.' Chief Bogo pointed at the 2 chairs, and both hopped into one. After all, those seats were designed for mammals much larger than them. As Chief Bogo searched for the case file under the mountains of paperwork, he snapped. 'Officer Wilde! That is extremely unprofessional of you! Pick up those carrot crumbs!' Wilde simply shrugged and picked them all up.

Judy's POV

'Heh. Dumb fox. I always knew you were a messy eater.' I whispered into Nick's ear.

'Hush, Carrots. It wasn't my fault you were withholding my donut.'

Judy glared at him. 'Not now Nick. Not when the chief…'

Chief Bogo cleared his throat, before saying, 'You two done with your chit-chat?' Nick smirked, while Judy jumped to attention and shouted, 'Yes sir!'. Chief Bogo removed the file's contents brashly and passed a copy of it to both of them.

Night Howler Case

Rating: B+

Officers assigned: Judy Hopps and Nicholas Wilde

Case details: On Wednesday morning, two civilians (namely Fox Stevenson and Brode Beaver were shot by the same model that was used by Former Assistant Mayor Dawn Bellweather (see A-rated Missing Mammals/Night Howler case files).

Case objectives:

Find origins of the Night Howler

Search for people involved in transporting the Night Howlers

Nick POV

Nick frowned as he looked at the case files. This case reminded him of last year, where they had nearly died many times (iced by Mr Big for example). He had a bad feeling that this would be no different. However, he could not voice his opinion out in fear of upsetting Judy, who had been waiting for another big case. Sometimes he wished that his Carrots was less adventurous. He would not accept losing her within a year of knowing her.

Chief Bogo cleared his throat once more. 'I expect you two to be on task and no fooling around on this serious case.' Nick rolled his eyes. 'Especially you, Officer Wilde. Collect your needed equipment from Clawhauser. Dismissed.'

Chief Bogo POV

Bogo sighed. As much as he disliked to admit it, the inseparable duo was the best team in Precinct 1. No doubt, they were rumours that they were dating, explaining their friendly banter every time. Whenever Clawhauser wasn't showing him the latest Gazelle news, he would ramble on Judy's obvious 'affection' for Nick and vice versa.

Judy POV

Judy hopped around nervously. 'So do we hunt down Weaselton like last time?'

Nick paused, before mentioning,' Why not we ask for Mr. Big? He is the leader of a major criminal organisation, and plus he probably has intel on most of the shady deals. And Fru Fru wouldn't mind getting another visit, would she?'

Judy considered it for a while, before nodding her head to signify her agreement.

(7.30pm, undisclosed location in Tundra Town)

'Ah, godmother of Fru Fru. It has been long time since you have visited, no?' Mr Big, who was ironically an arctic shrew, rambled. ' Fru Fru wants to… speak to you.' From the back of his chair, a familiar face appeared with a baby arctic shrew. 'Judy! You have to meet your goddaughter, Judy!' She raised the young shrew, similar to that scene that Nick and Judy had saw in the 'Lion King' movie. 'Aww… isn't she just so adorable? Just like her mother!' Judy nudged Nick, who was staring nervously to speak up. 'Yeah… quite adorable.' Nick stammered, rubbing his side from the hard nudge Judy had given him.

'Now, on to the business, no?' The boss spoke up. 'You said about this 'Night Howler' drug, yes? Some of my syndicates deal with suppliers of this… drug, however I do not condone this. You see, although I am a criminal boss, I have honour. I don't want innocent citizens to be hurt by me, no? Only other syndicates. So you are most welcome to kill or imprison them for disobeying my orders. Although, it would be hard to track them down as they were able to hid from me.' The shrew wrinkled his face in disgust of this unethical way of 'dealing with non-paying customers'. I wish you good luck to your mission, and don't die or Judy will never know her godmother, no? Out.' The polar bears, who had been silently watching, carrying them both gently to the snow outside.

(Later, both of them at Nick's apartment (which was more comfortable due to the more substantial amount he had paid))

'Hmm… Adriel Wolfe. Sound familiar?' Judy questioned. Nick shook his head. 'I may be an ex-crimammal, Carrots, but I only know those on the streets. When it comes to such cases, I tend to slink away and stick to selling Pawsickles, ya know?'

Judy's ears flopped down instinctively, showing her displeasure towards Nick's lack of knowledge. Bringing out her A-Phone, she manually inputted the name into the ZPD's database. The screen displayed the three most hated words: 'No results available.'

(The next day)

'Fin! Get your lazy ass out!' Nick pounded on the van's door, waiting for Finnick his old partner in crime to appear. 'What's the matter, foxy? Got your tail stuck in a grate again?' This prompted Nick to blush in embarrassment, causing Judy to smirk in response. 'Remember that time…' Nick interjected before Finnick spoke more, 'Keep your trap shut, don't embarrass me in front of Carrots. Now, where is this… Adriel character.' Finnick pawed him a piece of paper, before mouthing, 'You owe me one now.'

(Later at Furbucks)  
'Hmm… 51 Frozen Street at Tundra Town? Could be an arctic wolf I guess.' Nick spoke, after downing a delicious carrot Frappuccino with Judy. Judy thought for a moment, before leaving the table and beckoning him with her paw to get in the police car.

(At Tundra Town)

'Freeze! You're under arrest for possessing Night Howlers and distributing them to in crimammals!' The arctic wolf's grin grew larger, and mentioned, 'Where's your evidence, stupid?' Nick gave a half-smile, before speaking: 'I don't know, maybe this bag which states ''Night Howlers' to Lenny Ox, who happens to be a famous drug dealer?' The wolf growled, before stating,' You can't pass this evidence… not when you're dead.' He plopped a Night Howler into his mouth and instantly, his eyes blazed with anger. The wolf bared his claws, ready to strike the two officers. Instinctively, Hopps shot her tranquilizer to neutralise the drugged wolf, before handcuffing him and getting support from the station to bring the crimammal to jail.

(Days later)

Chief Bogo POV

'Greetings, Officer Hopps and Wilde. The crimammal would like to talk to you two.' Chief Bogo looked stern on the outside but in actuality he was amazed by their efficiency. They had cracked half of a case which the ZPD had been worrying about for the past 3 months in 2 days.

The crimammal growled at them from the other side of the mirror. The fox merely grinned. Using that silver tongue of his that he had utilised to his advantage, he asked smoothly, 'Well, speak up. I've heard on the street that the moment you get out of jail, Mr Big is going to kill you. Spit it out, or we'll pass you over to get iced.'

The wolf knew when he was caught. His answer was shocking. 'It was from the outside. The warehouse. Outside the glass dome which this...' He struggled to think of an appropriate adjective to describe it. 'land is inside.'


	4. Escape from the dome

_T/S: Heyyy! This is where it really begins. With school and what-not, I probably will only upload on Wednesday night GMT+8. The real action is going to begin soon. Or will it? (hehehe) As usual, rate and review, leave a favourite, follow, whatever. Enjoy.  
_

* * *

Outside

(Nick's POV)

'Sweet! Enough food to last us for months, two solar chargers, two portable Wi-Fi modems, Water purifiers, water bottles filled with water, and more!' Nick grinned in delight. That meant he could play as much music as he liked. 'Eh… probably not as good as the care package my parents gave me.' Carrots spoke up, holding 5 kilograms of pure Hopps Family Farm Blueberries, the one thing better than Clawhauser's donuts. (No offence to him of course.) Nick's eyes bulged out wider than Clawhauser's waist. (Once again, no offence to the cheerful, tubby feline.) 'Oh my goodness! Where and how…' Nick stopped before he embarrassed himself further. The friendly cheetah had really rubbed off on him. 'Umm, sorry about that. So how did your family know that we were going off outside the city?' Nick questioned casually. 'They Zkyped me in the middle of the night, asked about anything I need, and I just said the magic word and these blueberries appeared on my front door.' Judy replied without much care. 'Well, the car is here. We should go off else Bogo will have our heads again.' She continued. 'Eh, race to the car? First gets Clawhauser's donut.' She smirked, knowing that she would win. 'Alright then, let me have that donut that I deserve.' She reached to the cop car 3 whole seconds before Nick could, but Nick smiled to himself.

(1 hour earlier)

'Hey! Ben!'

The feline twitched and stared at him. ' . Goodness. So it's true that Chief Bogo is sending you out beyond the glass dome? I'll be your chauffeur for sure!' Nick smiled, waving his hands to motion that Clawhauser should calm down. 'Alright, here's the plan…' Nick whispered his new prank to Clawhauser while a smile spread slowly across the obese feline's face. 'That is a marvellous prank! Of course I would it. Just promise me that it wouldn't upset her.' Nick fired back immediately. 'Of course she won't. She's a very amicable bunny. This isn't the first time I've pranked her.' Clawhauser acknowledged the deal, hardly able to hold back his grin.

(Present)

'Hey! What's this metal thing inside this donut, Ben?' Nick and Ben shared a knowing glance, snickering to each other. Unfortunately for both of them, Judy heard them with her naturally excellent hearing.

'Is this another one of your pranks, Nick? And Ben! I thought you were above collaborating with Nick on his pranks!' Judy's nostrils flared in annoyance, which Nick secretly found cute. As she licked the sugary cream off the metallic object, she could have a closer and clearer looking on the wording engraved on the object. 'Carrots? Aww… Nick. I know you like me, but this? It's so sweet. I'll love you for this.' Nick smirked, holding a certain carrot pen that *was* in Judy's pocket before it was swiped. 'I'll love you for this.' The carrot pen replayed the line. 'Got you! Now… pass me that delicious bag of blueberries, cottontail.' Carrots frowned. 'Nick! How could you? Fool me once, shame on me! Fool me twice, shame on you! I thought you were better than this!'

'Wrong way around, dumb bunny. It's 'Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Dumb bunny.'

'Sly fox. When did I allow you take my pen anyway?'

Seeing the hurt in her eyes, those amethyst eyes about to well up with tears, he quickly pawed back the carrot pen, allowing her to delete the recording. She smiled weakly, before deleting the recording.

(Later, at the border of the glass dome.)

When the trio arrived at the exit of the glass dome, Clawhauser started on his narrative. 'Remember Tundra Town, Sahara Square and all the different climates? Well, this glass dome is the reason why it is all possible. It keeps the air conditioning in the Tundra Town in, and the heat of Sahara Square realistic. In fact, even the rain you see and feel is actually formed in the glass dome through evaporation and condensation.' Nick and Judy stared at Clawhauser stunned, both at a loss for words. All their lives, they would never had thought that the environment all around them was just a simulation made by animals. But then again, it explaining how a hot and cold climate like the Sahara Square and Tundra Town could be next to each other.

The rotund officer continued. 'Chief Bogo wanted to make sure you two knew what could happen out there. And most importantly, find that warehouse.' He whispered to them dramatically, like Chief Bogo was around the corner, 'But it's alright to destress. You two are the best couple forever!' Judy lit up like a light bulb. 'Thank you, Ben! For a moment, I thought Bogo was against the two of us having some personal time together.'

Winking at both of them, the adorable feline opened the glass panel, revealing the outside world.

Judy and Nick gasped. The sky was not blue, for one thing. The sky was extremely grey, and it looked like it could rain any minute. The winds ripped around the outside like a miniature hurricane, scattering the dead leaves around. The trees… they grew large, abnormally large fruit that would have never been seen in Zootopia. But at the same time they were unsure whether the fruits were edible. The air was rough and smoky, causing Nick to cough a little. The grass… yellow and half-dead. It was nothing like the paradise described in the oldest archives. Everything seemed like it came from a post-apocalyptic movie.

The glass panel then slowly retracted, leaving the duo all alone the wilderness. And then, a sound.

* * *

 _A/N: Sorry! I had to put that cliffhanger there. Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Going to change the themes to Mystery and Romance (subplot being their relationship). Of course, R &R please._

 _A/N 2.0: Hey guys! I'm currently getting some serious writer's block right now! Currently I'm deciding on three climaxes:_

 _A: Bellweather escapes from prison and well, finds them there!_

 _B:Nick steps on some Night Howler spilt on the floor, goes savage, gets antidote etc._

 _C: Judy goes savage instead. Antidote. Enough said._

 _D: PM me your ideas on how to continue this. Until then, peace!_


	5. The First Night

_A/N: I'm sorry for keeping you guys waiting for so long without any words from me. I had a busy 3 days (school, school and more school) but don't worry, I will be able to pump out chapters, but not so often. Also, I've been working on an April Fool's one-shot, so watch for that. For now, enjoy._

 _Inspiration for this: Fallout series+DemonWriterX Drabbles_

 _Disclaimer: I own none of the characters except for OCs._

 _NickxJudy pls  
– TheShibe_

The First Night

The outside world wasn't what they had imagined. It was no small feat to stay alive for more than an hour outside, prey and predator alike. For Judy, she had been worn out by being on her guard 24/7; For Nick, he was tired of having to watch for Judy. Couple this with the harsh, nonsensical weather (It could turn from baking hot into thundering downpours in minutes), and you have the ultimate survival challenge.

Judy's POV

'Arghh… Nick, when can we set camp! All this heavy equipment is weighing us down!' Judy grumbled, showing how this environment could even turn the most optimistic bunny grumpy.

Nick, however, did not seem to take her grumbling to heart. Rather, he was sniffing suspiciously for other predators looking for Judy. However, they were both moving at a snail's pace due to their tiredness, the uneven terrain and of course their bags.

The terrain; occasionally rocky, occasionally wet and rarely grass filled. Whatever had happened out here was a complete 180 from Zootopia's well controlled climate.

(4 hours later)

They had discovered gravelled land earlier, marked with words like 'STOP' and et cetera. Assuming this led to civilisation like Zootopia, they followed the road. What they found was not quite what they expected. There were ghosts of buildings. The buildings- sooty, metal around it rusty. Signs caked of dust littered what could have been a metropolis in the past. Traffic lights flickered, dwindling power supplies wasting away. Old posters saying 'Vote for Trump 2020' and 'Make your own bomb shelter' are half torn. Mice the size of a cat run around the streets. Worn down settlements around the corner. A picture of a 'human' named Preston stating on settlement locations. It was an ideal setting for a post-apocalyptic game.

For then, they decided to settle down in a half-decent survivor's house. It had great furnishing for something abandoned for a long time. It had large beds for both of them, food supplies, water from a well, electricity and other essential amenities. It also had some weaponry and defences, for example, a laser wall which could keep unwanted feral predators away. Well, one could hope. It also contained a few pistols and ammunition inside them. Of course, both of them turned their phones on and texted Chief Bogo that they were in a safe place.

With the portable lights they had, they slept in the decently comfortable bed together, with the lights on.

(12 AM)

A growl could be heard nearby. Judy instantly woke up, shaking Nick awake. Nick drooled, slurring his words, ' Whaaaa … was the matter… Carrots… nightmares again?' She zapped him with the taser gun, shocking him out of the bed and gave an interesting new bump. 'Judy! You could have waked me later! It's only 12AM!' Nick protested. 'But Nick…' The growl was heard once again, but closer. 'Oh.' Nick sighed in his realisation. It was a feral predator. They had seen some of them roaming the streets earlier that day from a far distance, and it was clear that the animals won't be easy to take on. For instance, the wild cheetah they saw could sprint faster than Flash's race car, which said a lot. Clearly, any threat they were facing now would be harder than anticipated. Taking out the .40 S&W Glock 24, he holstered it, ready to fire it at any target. It had the standard magazine capacity of 13 rounds but it also had a modified laser scope attached it presumably by its previous owner. The rounds were of the modified kind, named 'PEA' by its maker. It was definitely not a pea, though. Its name stood for 'Pyrotechnic Explosive Ammunition', able to take out any feral animal or a vehicle for that in one shot.

Weapon in hand, Nick was ready to fight his Carrots. Judy, too was ready to fight for Nick. The growl came closer. And then, the shining green eyes appeared in front of the doorway. Nick cursed under his breath. 'Stay close, Carrots. I'm going to have to put on an act for a bit.' Nick went on all fours, emitting an eerily convincing growl which frightened and relaxed her. The other vulpine growled back. Nick whispered, ensuring that the feral fox would not react, 'Judy, when I get close enough, hop and zap the bugger, alright, Carrots?' Judy cringed. Nick almost never called her by her true name. When he did, it usually meant he was serious. And that was a true indicator of how dangerous the situation was.

Nick moved in closer to his kind, slow and steady. He continued to gnash his teeth to appear more intimidating. The other animal creeped closer as well. As they stood face to face, an *zap* could be heard, and a gunshot caused the carcass to explode and burn in flames.

'Phew… that was a close one, Nick. Remind me to find extra tasers if possible.' Judy spoke, shattering the silence of the night. Nick looked at her half-smiling, half-serious. 'You know, Carrots, I've been waiting to do this. But if you don't want to, then just say.' Judy looked at him blankly. Nick tried to condense it as much as possible. 'Umm… you see, there's this thing to foxes called scent marking. It means that you are my one and only partner and other foxes cannot not go near you or attack you. I'm been secretly wanting to do it since that Night Howler case. I mean, it would be the only thing that would protect you if I went…' He didn't say the word, for there was no need to. Judy clutched his paws, never seeing him this honest. 'Nick… I understand. I… have a confession to make. I've loved you for being such a help, giving me someone to talk and relate with when none of the other conceited, stuck up officers will. So please, do it.' Nick smiled. 'So do I, Judy. So do I.' He then began the process of scent marking. Rubbing his warm cheeks against hers, activating gland cells which left his scent on her, marking her as his mate- for life.

'Wow… Nick. I… didn't know you would go to this extent to protect me.' Judy blushed, her fur warm after the surprising pleasant process. Nick returned her sentiments on the issue. Together, the warm bodies lay in bed, unperturbed until the next day.

 _A/N: Wow. I really didn't know I would put that last part in there. But well… I kind of put Romance as a description and I *have* to make you guys happy, amirite? *nuzzles reader for attention* Sorry I haven't been posting for the last few days, school has been killing my time and my Co-curriculum group have been organising something big. This means my timetable would only be freed up next Saturday. Pls don't be mad at me ;-;. Till then, peace!_


	6. The Warehouse

_A/N: Wow! Thanks for the reviews! To answer: Yes, Bunny Barrow_ _ **is**_ _in the dome. And for those asking for Nick x Judy: Fret not! I have a little… something planned for them. *winks* Alright, enough with the small talk, and on with this cool chapter._

* * *

The Warehouse

The fox was getting closer. Nick could do nothing against it. She hopped back, hoping that… fox would stop. Nick was injured by the vulpine which had intruded, sporting a bleeding arm for the short tussle the foxes had. The female got nearer. Nick tried to stop it again with his taser, but it didn't work and he got another gash down his knee for his valiant attempt. Then, she pounced.

But she missed her neck. Judy screeched as the fox bit off her right cheek, before taking out her gun and shooting it. But her pelt was harder than titanium. Nothing seemed to kill it. Panicked, she ran, but her bleeding cheek did no favours to her. She hopped up, but it was to no avail as the fox had unnatural abilities: It could jump from wall to wall, with seemingly limitless stamina, effectively making it the perfect canine predator. Alarmed, Judy locked the door behind her, side by side with a bleeding Nick. 'Nick… I just want to tell you, I love you.' Nick sheepishly grinned, causing blood to spurt out more from his leg. 'I love you… too… Carrots.' He weakly blurted out the last few words. Together, they held hands, till the fox came. Bursting down the door, all that stood before Judy and her predator was Nick. The claws were on Nick's chests, scratching through his heart. As the blood soaked through his shirt, his pelt, onto Judy, he meekly smiled and gasped his last breath as blood bubbled from his wounds.

Judy closed her eyes as the other fox went onto her. She was nothing but a helpless bunny who couldn't even help her partner. At that point, the 'Energiser' Bunny, as she had been nicknamed, gave up. She couldn't do anything. She was a hopeless dump. The claws came. The blood flew, splattering the already bloodstained wall. And then, all that was left was two bleeding dead carcasses, one bloodstained hungry fox and silence.

Judy woke up with a gasp, panting for breath non-stop. 'Carrots… the same dream again?' Nick asked gently. Ever since that close encounter, Judy had been getting recurring nightmares where both of them died. Judy nodded, clearly still shaken by her dream. 'Oh, Carrots…' He hushed, not wanting to say more lest it hurt Judy when she was this emotional.

Judy breathed in and out slowly, trying to get into a Zen state. Breathe in… _carpet filled with red viscous liquid_ … Breathe out… _our bodies on the floor._ Judy sighed. It was not helping. Nick, with a frown on his face, decided to bring her for a walk.

* * *

Nick's POV

I watched as she struggled with getting out of her bed. The recurring nightmares… haunted her day and night. Dragging her out of bed, I picked up a couple of machine guns so that we would be safe. She pretended to smile, but I knew that in the inside she was half dead.

The outside was as unhospitable as ever. The smell of smog perturbed me and I decided to walk to the remains of a hospital to grab a couple of masks. Although made for some beings called 'humans', it was always possible to refit them by readjusting the fabric used for the mask.

The hospital was of course desolate and dirty. I opened the creaking metal door which led up a dirty concrete stairway to the various levels. Being animals had a natural advantage, with Judy hopping (with tiredness in her eyes) and me clawing up the bars. Soon, we were on floor 6, hardly out of breath due to the intensive ZPD training we had undergone, notwithstanding that we were both valedictorians of our batches. Opening yet another creaky door, I saw a dinky old waiting area for the patients to wait for the doctor. Bypassing all the junk cluttering the hallways, I walked past unsterilized walls with mysterious blotches of red here and there (no doubt Judy nearly fainted due to the blotches being triggers). Then I realised that something was…off.

Judy and I had not spoken for the entire trip to the hospital. I tried to break the ice. 'Judy, you got to tell me seriously what's wrong. I won't hurt you, Carrots.' Judy reluctantly opened her mouth. 'Nick. I was… afraid that I would… be a liability to you. Putting you in harm's way. Predators killing both of us.' Bursting into tears, she crouched at one corner and teared up. Letting her lean on my shoulder, I patted her back, whispering, 'There, there now Carrots. You bunnies- so emotional.' Judy sighed. 'I guess… I guess I am. Will you promise that you wouldn't come to harm because… because of me?' She pronounced the last few words in pain, as if the thought of her causing me harm gave her immense sorrow. I smiled slowly. 'It's alright Carrots. I wouldn't do that. Cheer up, will you? Here's some fresh carrots from your family… Carrots.' Groaning at the bad pun, she nibbled at the carrot gingerly, like it was about to break. I played her favourite song 50 times over, 'Try everything'.

Soon, the Judy I knew and cherished so much was back. 'Thanks… Nick.' She hushed, still trying to regain her composure. 'I promise I wouldn't let you down. Nor will I forget your blueberries.' I grinned slyly. 'Now that's my Cottontail! Don't forget those blueberries, will you?' I spoke cheerfully. She bounced with more convincing pep, shouting a resounding 'Yes!'

It was already 12PM. The sun was baking the dry streets, robbing it of any last droplets of moisture. We were in the storage room, taking some necessary medication. 'Ibuprofen… hmm… check.' I said to myself. 'Cough syrup… masks… check and check.' We had what we needed to heal ourselves of any conventional ailments swiftly.

I proceeded to leave the room, but one phrase caught my eye. 'Night Howler'. I picked up the file, reading its contents.

* * *

Medical Report

ID: PX12370D5G

Name: Night Howler

Origins: The Flare

Elobration: The Flare (ID PX12300D0G) is a highly contagious virus, causing strategic disabling of the cortex, restricting conscious thought and reverting its subject to its primal instincts. It has been successfully eradicated, except for a select variant which has emerged from _Midnicampum holicithias_ flowers. It has similar effect to The Flare, but it only occurs in non- _Homo sapien sapien_ mammals.

Locations: Currently some of it is left at latitude 33, longtitude 91 (Arkansas) warehouse, along with a manufactured cure for any budding animal scientists whose experiments had unexpected results.

Case study: Refer to Assistant Mayor Bellweather notes.

As Nick flipped through the pages of the long winded medical report, his eyes lit up. 'Carrots! This must be where the drugs are made! This place called 'Arkansas'!' Judy hopped with joy. 'Great! Time to put our modified vehicles to the test!' Before they had arrived, they managed to find modified SUVs which ran on solar power and with booster seats so both could drive the vehicle.

 _A/N: Well... that got intense. I never got *this* inspired to complete a chapter so fast! Sorry if the beginning scared you, please don't kill meh ;-;. Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter, R &R as usual. Peace :D_


	7. The Journey

_A/N: Sorry it took so long for this one, had some MAJOR events going on and what not. Hope that you guys enjoy this one and of course, R &R! More WildeHopps because I love it._

Chapter 7: The journey

'Sheesh, Carrots! Get your own blanket! My tail is not a blanket!' Nick complained as usual. Judy merely giggled. 'But Nick, it's so fluffy! And plus, you are hogging the only blanket we have!' Judy retorted. Nick jerked his tail forward, but Judy just wouldn't let go. (Another thing Nick had learnt from experience: When she clung on to something, nothing would make her let go. Just like that rainforest escape from Savage Manchas.) Wagging his tail for a bit, Nick kept trying to get the bunny to let go of his tail.

'Judy, if you would say 'I love you, Nick,', I'm willing to let you clench my tail as much as you like. Deal?' Judy's ears popped up, noting an opportunity to hustle. 'No deal. I'll just cling on anyway, knowing you'll probably send it to Clawhauser and make me the joke of the ZPD again.' Nick knew that she would probably mention blueberries later, and prepared a second comeback. 'Alright then, I'll just get the other video of getting rolled by yours truly (Nick rolled hehehe) and send it.' Judy smiled, giving her best comeback. 'Fine then, no blueberries.' Nick was ready, replying, 'Then I'll just swipe then from you.' Judy knew that being an ex-hustler, his skills were better than hers. She gave up, pretending to sigh in annoyance, while secretly excited that she could finally admit what she had been yearning to for the past year. 'Nick… I love you.' She uttered the magical words in pure sincerity. 'Cottontail, you're blushing.' Nick gave a sound which sounded like a smirk to her. 'No. I. am. NOT. Blushing. Nicholas Piberius Wilde!' She spat. 'Aww, how nice. I would have believed it if not for my night vision. You did remember that from biology class, Ms Valedictorian?' Judy blushed so much, her complexion resembled an overripe tomato. Nick took out a memorable carrot pen, replaying those words back to her. 'Gotcha.' He mentioned, sending the clip immediately to Clawhuaser.

Clawhauser

O. ! She did it! I'm so winning the… never mind.

Nick shoved the phone screen in her face, snickering. Judy just clung on tightly as possible under Nick, hoping that he wouldn't see blush again.

(Next day)

The sounds of 'Try Everything' blared from Judy's phone as they woke up, groaning from the short period they had spent on sleeping. They had to move their equipment to the warehouse as described in the medical report, following the co-ordinates.

As they dragged everything onto the solar powered car they had found, Nick grinned. 'Well, ready to find out the truth?' Judy smiled back convincing, nodding to agree.

(Undescribed location)

A human sat watching both of them, awaiting the commands. They had been instructed to monitor closely, and make sure the entire thing didn't fall apart into a thousand pieces. They had to step in to stop the Night Howler incident. They knew that animals were still stealing the Night Howler. But it was time to intervene before the devious duo of animals got attacked by the animal mafia inside their warehouse.

Marcus Andrew Decruze took out his antidote gun, ready to cleanse any of the duo in case they got infected, or any of the members of the mafia got infected. Unbeknownst to him, a mafia member had changed his ammo to blueberries instead of the actual antidote, and had use it to sell it to the Zootopian authorities for curing the infected. (This was led by Mr Big, to cure his florist.)

(Nick POV)

I started the engine, hearing the satisfying rumble of the engine. We drove off, dodging the fallen objects, the feral animals (There were quite a number of feral foxes, which Judy shot down quickly and painlessly. I'm pleased to say that she won't let even ferals suffer.)

Hot tailing it, we ended in the ruins of another city. This one was no different from the rest. The tall dusty skyscrapers touching the sky. The roads with cars here and there, mostly charred. The asphalt was rocky after years, maybe centuries of no maintenance. It was all desolate. So lonely.

A withered sign read: Arkansas. Some budding genius carved on the Signboard: Treatment for The Flare ahead. Referring to the medical report, Judy exclaimed, 'This is it. We're almost there. Just up ahead and we got the cure for the Night Howlers. Hopefully we can catch the Night Howler suppliers here too.' She beamed, full of hope on what was going to happen next. I, on the other hand, was completely pessimistic. What if I get infected with the Night Howler and I would ravage her? What if the Mafia shot us both? What if we were captured and both of us would die painfully in captivity? An ocean of 'what ifs' travelled through my mind.

The sun was blocked out, the wind stopped and the leaves stopped rustling. Nick looked all around. There was… nothing. Then why was there this eerie feeling that something was watching him? He stared around nervously, voicing his thoughts: 'Carrots…'

Suddenly, the earth shook with the force of 9 on the Richter scale. The cracked asphalt cracked more than possible. Some ferals fell into massive sinkholes which appeared out of nowhere. All around, bumpy 2m high hills began forming. It was as if Mother Nature's vengeance had been downed upon the lost city of Arkansas. Unknown to both of them, Arkansas was a high risk earthquake zone, which was why the researchers had chosen to put their supplies there, as most thieves would not be able to get past the rubble that shielded the shining facility from plain sight.

Our car rumbled as it drove across the treacherous terrain. Thankfully, the SUV (sport utility vehicle) was built to handle terrain, and we thankfully managed to go over 100m of road without any significant events.

Out of nowhere, several feral members of the _canidae_ family sprung out of nowhere, eyes aiming to kill anything in its sight, even if it killed it. 'Rats… wild ferals dogs. We're in big trouble, Carrots.' Nick muttered under his breath. Of course, with her superb hearing, Judy heard him. She applied more pressure on the pedal, hoping to out go these beings.

Judy suddenly halted the car to make a sharp U-turn. A massive crevice was right in front of them, and they would have fell in if it were not for Judy's quick reactions. However, the road they were driving into was a cul-de-sac, a dead end. In front: A huge crevice with no way out. Left and right: Flanked by 4-floor high crumbled structures. Behind them: A feral pack of dogs, catching up fast. There was no 'fight or flight' choice here. There was only fight. Nick holstered his gun. It was showtime.

 _A/N: Dum dum dum dum! A cliffhanger! I'm an asshole, am I? Making you guys waiting for this huge cliffhanger. And of course, who is this Marcus human? Does he have benevolent intentions? I really don't know either. Send me some reviews, PM me some ideas, blah blah blah. The usual stuff._


	8. Old Scars

_nA/N: Hey guys!Midyears a-coming, and it's stress overload as I have to get into the best class to take my favourite subjects! But meanwhile, I'll continue to upload these + one one-shot on the weekends. Dig your teeth into this. Enjoy~_

The Good Fight

'Well… we're surrounded. What now?' I muttered to Judy, the scheming bunny I've known ever since that fateful day at Jumbeaux's Café. 'We fight. Try not to die, okay?' She whispered to me sweetly as both of us holstered our standard pistols, clipping ammunition packs to our body armour for quick refills.

They began, one by one. Hands steady.

 **Boom**

 **Boom**

 **Click Click**

 **Boom Boom**

 **Click Click**

Four down. Twelve to go. The alpha stood at the back, growling. Suddenly, 6 of them pounced on us at the same time, leaving us with approximately 0.3 milliseconds to react. We didn't take it.

I felt the wind getting knocked out of me. Paws raised. Pushing the lumps of rabid… no… feral _Canis Lupus_ from my body armour. Pistols… did nothing in this situation. Dodging the bites they were trying to take at me, I rolled over towards Judy and took out a standard issue police dagger, stabbing one of the dogs trying to have a Judy sandwich.

The blood split over the rock hard graphite, marking the trail of blood. However, some of those were of animal pain, and some weren't. Stabbing those which tried to make Judy their meal helped to stop the liquid indicator of pain from flowing from Judy's… wait… Judy was bleeding! I brought up the knife, mindful of the trio of canines trying to bite through my body armour, stabbing mercilessly into the being that was attempting to kill my Carrots.

Cheek bleeding, making… scars (why does it almost match my claws…), Judy picked herself up. Three shots were all it took to finish off those gnawing through my body armour.

Now the alpha. It tossed itself at us, drooling non-stop, a bloodthirsty look in its eyes. I got the honour of finishing it off. It was a clean cut with the dagger that did the job.

16 dead bodies. None deserving for what they did, but necessary for survival. 'Let's go.' I nudged her in the shoulder, hinting we should get in the car.

Judy's POV

'Well… Nick. Don't worry about me. I'm… alright.' I caressed my cheek like how my mother did on that fateful day where Gideon Grey, childhood bully, had left scars. This encounter had literally reopened some old scars. Now blood dripped slowly from it like a broken tap.

'Well… Carrots. It's already dusk. Why not we get into this building here 'Nick pointed to the nearest, least wrecked building which was next to us,' and get ourselves some shut-eye, eh? You need to rest that wound always Carrots. And perhaps some antiseptic on that to clean up the wound.' He pulled up the SUV and we unloaded all the material we needed to fortify and barricade up the place from any ferals.

(45 mins later)

'Ah…much better!' We had just boarded up the windows, added laser wire traps, some decoys, the usual stuff. Setting up the inflatable mattress and pillows took a quick two minutes. We cleaned up (at separate corners… for obvious reasons) and polished our body armour before taking it out. Afterwards, we had some chow (baked beans, dried nuts… the usual dry packed food.)

As we laid on the mattress, Nick piped up. 'So… why you do have a scar on your cheek?' He placed his claws on the scar, confirming for himself as a match. 'Was it a fox?' He asked it really not because he didn't know, but he wanted to prompt Judy speak.

'Well… Nick… So when I was a child, there was this one fox… Gideon Gray.' Nick commented, 'Well, never knew there was another fox in the Burrows.' I continued my narrative. 'He had carrot-brown fur, pudgy face… you get the picture, right?' He nodded.

'Well, after I announced on stage in a play that I wanted to be a police officer, he went to steal some of my friends' tickets. I thought that I was being a real cop when I stood up to him for the tickets.' Nick inhaled, knowing how this would probably end. 'I told him off, asked him to return those tickets.' He just snarled and stuffed those tickets in his pocket. Judy tried her best impersonation of Gideon's country accent. 'Come get 'em. But watch out, 'cause I'm a fox. And like you said in your dumb little stage play, us predators used to eat prey.' Nick shuddered at both the country accent and the way he spoke. No wonder Judy brought fox repellent when she first met him.

'He then shoved me to the ground pretty darn hard. But I served him really good, got his face with a solid hit of this foot', pointing my left foot, 'made us equal, you know?' Nick nodded, motioning for me to continue. 'Well… he then slapped me in the face, then clawed my cheek, making it bleed…' She faltered, remembering what happened. 'He told me that I wouldn't be anything more than just a stupid, carrot-farming dumb bunny. But at least I got the tickets back.' Nick softened. 'I'll get him back for ya, Carrots. Just so you know.' Nick muttered softly under his breath. 'No need, he apologised to me after… you know the press conference. He's now working with my parents as a blueberry pie baker. He also kind of contributed to helping me to solve the Night Howlers Case by showing that Night Howlers were actually flowers, not howling wolves.' 'Ah.' He replied. 'Err… that wound of yours much better now?' I nodded. 'Yeah, it stopped dripping blood earlier. I think it's fine now, just a mere cosmetic difference.'

'That's what you think.' A mysterious voice appeared out of nowhere, addressing us both.

 _A/N: Boom! Who is this mysterious voice? Is this bad? Find out more on the next chapter! Hope you enjoyed this short chapter, will be back with more next week! Going to start work on my one-shot series now. Peace out._


	9. Target Acquired

_A/N: So… exams are around the corner. I won't be updating this as frequently as I would like to now. Meanwhile, enjoy this chapter. I'll try to pump out the next by the usual timing (one week)._

 _P.S. To that one reviewer who did not like the word crimammals: I would try to stop using that for the later chapters. Thanks for your feedback._

Target Acquired

'Wake up, you sleepy head! It's already 9am and we should go off to find the warehouse they mentioned in that medical file.' I rubbed my eyes blearily, clearly still not fully wake after a good night's sleep. Judy took out the portable coffee machine and some steaming hot coffee while I did my usual morning routine: groom my fur (got to make sure you look good when fighting off villains, right?), put on my gear (ZPD-approved outdoors terrain gear. Great for fighting off dogs, apparently.), checked our ammunition stash (about 20 more rounds for me, 12 for Judy) and then took some blueberries as morning fuel. As the sweet, fresh taste of Judy's blueberries swished around my tongue and eventually into my oesophagus, I picked up the cup of instant coffee Judy had made and sipped slowly. Although it was instant, it wasn't that bad as the bitter taste of coffee somehow complemented the sweet remnants of blueberry.

'Carrots?' 'Yeah?' 'Thanks… for confiding in me last night. It's really nice to know you trust me, especially…' I trailed off, trying to make a point. Judy, being intelligent, got the point. 'Yes, and thank you for being understanding, what with you knowing…' She answered with jest, whilst agreeing on the silent point I had made. I smiled, knowing she could complete my sentence and I could complete hers. 'Come on. Let's go.' She hopped onto the SUV, while I calmly strode patiently into the backseat.

(15 kilometres later)

'Judy?' 'What is it?' 'I think we're here.' As we approached the huge monument of steel and glass, we noticed the dust, the fatigue of the material. It was a skill all police officers picked up: The ability to pick out small details other animals won't care to notice was a valuable one. For example, in this situation, we could use the weak points as escape routes, what with her powerful kick which could blow some weak spots wide open. It had saved many an officer who needed to escape from angry criminals after busting a good old drug ring or perhaps a shady den with prostitutes.

'Nick? Zootopia to Nick? You there?' Judy snapped me out of my train of thought, alerting me to our arrival. 'Hey Carrots…' She turned around, mouthing, 'What is it?' Piping up, I continued, 'What you do think was that voice we heard last night, Carrots?' She paused. 'Neither do I know, Nick. All I know this means is that we have to be on our toes from this mysterious… being? Entity?' I sighed. She was too carefree, too relaxed. 'What he said… your wound?' She shook it off as 'a cosmetic difference', but that voice… felt otherwise.

We stepped off the SUV. Correction- I stepped off the SUV, while she jumped off the seat enthusiastically onto the hard asphalt. Sauntering towards the megastructure, we opened the doors to the place.

'Dark… Nick… where are you?' I sneaked behind her, intending to give her a good scare. Trailing behind her closely, I heard her heart palpitating. 'Nick… help… something's tailing me… I can't… see…' I jumped, scaring the living daylights from her. 'Jeez, Nick. Did you really have to do that to me?' I smirked, replying slowly with a drawl. 'Well… it's a lesson to always bring a light along. Here, have my phone. It has a flashlight function on it, and it has sufficient battery for quite some time. Let me guess, you left yours in the car?' She blushed, forgetting about my night vision. 'Oops…' She shone the light ahead, turning on the smartphone. 'Hey Nick, nice lock screen wallpaper!' She joked. Thankfully, she did not receive night vision as one of nature's gifts, or she would've seen me blushing. 'Listen Carrots… I can explain…' 'You love me. You do know that right?' She grinned, making a not-so-subtle reference to the day we caught Flash. I replied the way I had on that day. 'Do I know that? Yes. Yes, I do.' 'Nick… so do I.' She returned the grin gently, smiling like the sweet summer child she was when she had first confronted me.

(Secret bunker beneath the structure)

I laid back nonchalantly as the inseparable fox-bunny duo wandered across the structure. It was fun, toying with them with that automated voice message taken 10 years back. But they were too close for comfort. It was time to eliminate them before they found the laboratory. I turned on the computer, starting up its software.

*Opening ISD-Programme*

*Begin facial recognition*

*Targets acquired*

*Target 1: Nicholas Piberius Wilde

Species: Fox.

Family: Mother's status unknown. Father (Josiah Nero Wilde) confirmed to be dead due to over-dosage on sleeping pills. *

*Target 2: Judith Eileen Hopps.

Species: Bunny

Family: Stewart Edward Hopps and Bonnie Isabelle Karrot, both alive.*

*Beginning Defense system*

*Layout open.'

*Selecting Area 20-5 as trap location*

*Setting traps… 10%*

*Setting traps… 60%*

*COMPLETE- PRESS ENTER TO ACTIVATE*

(Nick POV)

'Judy…' I began. 'Yes Nick?' She replied slowly. 'I'm beginning to think…' I paused. 'Think what, Nick?' 'Well… IT'S A TRAP!' She groaned at the bad joke, while I smirked. 'Yeesh, Nick. Your taste in humour is really bad. You really had to make that 'Fur Wars' reference, did you? May I remind you for the hundredth time that your Admiral Snackbar voice is really terrible…' I cut her off before she could continue. 'Yada, Yada, Yada. It's a joke, Carrots. Calm down, would you?'

Then the ground split open again in all its glory, the heavens cracked. Then it was all dark once again, the light going out.

 _A/N: Dun, dun, dun! They're in hot soup, aren't they? At the beginning, they were talking about stereotypes, like in the movie. I personally feel that stereotypes are too often forced onto a person even though it might be far from the truth. Sure, it makes life 'easier', but pssh… people get sick of it. I just had to speak on it. I used Nero as Nick's father surname as 'Piberius' was a play on 'Tiberius', an unpopular Roman emperor, like Nero. (Just to clarify). If you're new to the story… well, hope you enjoyed it. New chapter should be coming out next week if exam revision planning gives some time for me to write another one of these. Until then, peace out._


	10. Stairway to Heaven

_A/N: Hey all! I might not able to update this story for a week or two due to mid-year exams coming up. So enjoy this little chapter for now. I wish those who take exams… much luck and may the knowledge be with you!_

Stairway to Heaven

'Nick! Where are you?' I screeched. The ceiling had crumbled into bits and the ground had opened into a giant sinkhole, as if our footsteps were enough to destabilise the crumbling building. The detritus of what was left of the ceiling was all over the floor. However, it had too conveniently made a stairway up to the next floor of the building.

Suddenly, a shuffle in the multitude of pebbles alerted my ears to Nick's presence. I whipped around, finding Nick with battered arms and a bruised tail. 'Nick, I swear if you dare scare me like that again, I'll…' He stopped me, delivering a swift undeniable kiss to me, before smiling. 'I'm alright, Carrots. Nothing I've never experienced before.' His voice betrayed a slight bit of pain, but he continued. 'Don't worry for me. What matters is that we complete this case. You hear that, Judy?' I stood stunned. He only called me by my name when he was serious. Being a serial prankster, he was almost never serious. I nodded, allowing us to proceed up the stairway created by the rubble.

We proceeded on to the next floor… and to the next one. This time, this storey was about 20 metres tall, about 100 metres wide and 150 metres for its length. It was in a better state compared to the rest, with dust everywhere, and pawprints on the floor… pawprints? 'Nick! Look?' I pointed eagerly at the pawprints, hopping around. He rotated his head slowly, nodding at the new evidence we had found.

'Alright, this is heating up…' All of a sudden, the rusting PA system we didn't know existing blared up. 'And it will heat up, honey dear. Enjoy your stay here… or maybe not!' An evil voice cackled over the PA system, whilst the floor magically sealed itself up, and the rubble started crumbling around us. The exit was so far, but it was there. 'Welcome to your first round, ladies and gentlemammals.' The voice spoke with a hint of… happiness? 'Remember that game where you imagined the floor was lava? Well… the floor is actually lava! And it rises about 18cm per hour, so you best hurry to the next arena, playthings.' The PA system stopped working abruptly.

The rubble we were standing was only a mere 3cm over lava, meaning we had to plan what to do in 10 minutes, or we were roast rabbit and fried fox, pre-heated for dinner. There was just a little issue: Nick was injured. And so was I.

'Alright. We got to hop on to that rock over there. You see that?' I pointed to the big lump of granite which was more elevated above the lava than we were.' I checked my pockets for anything that could help. Some rope, a tweezer, a knife, my phone, some rocks, blueberries (yum), and a small pebble. Nothing we could use, really.

I hopped over to the other side pretty easily, as it was only 3m away. Nick did so as well, his refined skills courtesy of the ZPD training program. Now, on to the next jump… I was about to jump to it but it was quickly consumed by the hungry lava, waiting to devour us. The hidden cameras probably displayed our confusion, and the PA system reactivated: 'Oh, forgot to say this, but the lava flows in at an incremental rate, so you best hurry up before it speeds up to fast, hmm?' I cursed the voice on the PA system, before receiving an electric shock from the floor. 'Uh-huh, bad girl.' The voice seemed to taunt me.

With a bounce to my feet, I and Nick simply raced to the exit, waiting for the next obstacle. Another room opened up to us, its stainless steel doors opening and closing silently. The voice opened up again, seeming waiting for us. 'Well… it seems like you enjoyed that… fiery challenge. Now… we have this little… challenge for you two. Since you two love lava so much, here's a vertical lava climbing wall, exception is… the footholds are actually very unstable, and crumble in 30 seconds. And also, the lava from the room before you is flooding in, so you best plan out your route before I collect your burnt carcasses. Have fun!' The voice spoke airily, before closing the PA system. True to its word, the lava began immediately. I mentally visualised the steps… ' _left boulder… then up there, do a hop up to the right…'_ It was clear that Nick had already planned it when the voice was speaking, and had started climbing the 20m cliff. He pranced from boulder to boulder, like he had done this before… maybe to escape? I shuddered, quickly following the route and the markers I had set. Soon, I had surpassed him, who had chosen a slightly slower route, presumably to account for his injuries. I took the shortcuts I could, careful to make sure none of my boulders fell and landed on Nick.

I kept up the pace, as so did Nick as he… managed to find some… creative uses for his tail, so as to speak. Using it as a… tailhold? When there was no other way to get up. I grinned at his ingenuity, knowing that he would be able to beat the lava.

' _Right… left… top right, 2 metres… top left, 1 metre…'_ The handholds had become increasingly shaky as expected, leaving me to wonder: Was it because of old age, or was because there was a lesser need to replace them as more mammals had fell off in the earlier stages… I shuddering, wanting to shake off the imagery of mammals falling to their doom.

Finally, I reached the pinnacle of the place. Nick was about to, too. I outstretched my paw, ready to give a paw shake. He grabbed my hand, accepting it.

 _SNAP_

Both of his footholds snapped, causing me to lunge backwards, and him to strengthen his grip.

Nicholas Piberius Wilde. ZPD Officer. Ex-hustler. Potential boyfriend. Was. Now. Hanging. Over. A. Pit. Of. Lava.

 _A/N: I'm really sorry for the cliffhanger… get it? Hanging over a cliff? (winces at bad pun) I really shouldn't make puns. Anyways, hope you enjoy this chapter, and good luck to all for their finals. Rate and review as always, and peace._


	11. Hot potato

A/N: My exams are OVER! This means I can continue writing on this fanfic as promised. Let's cut to the chase: Chapter 11, please.

Hot Potato

'It's not your time yet!' A voice… Judy? I drifted upwards, lifted by some omnipotent power. Or maybe just Judy.

Paws on the ground. It was time to focus on the next task. We moved on to the next stage, grateful that we had emerged safe and sound.

'Well, well, well. How interesting. The two valiant heroes, defeating the obstacles. I guess it's time to unveil the next stage of the plan, eh? So here's how it goes… razor sharp blades? Check. Night Howler? Check. Here's one piece of advice: stay alert. Good luck.' The … voice had a light hearted tinge to its voice, as if watching our deaths was akin to just another reality TV show like Survivor. I grinded my canines. I would not allow myself to be hit by one of those accursed blades.

Swoosh.

A blade embedded itself on the ground between me and Judy. It was stainless steel, able to give a clean cut to its victim, whether a vegetable or a sentient being.

Woosh.

Another one thudded on the floor, clearly a bad shot. It was well-worn, clearly not sharp enough to cause a laceration.

Judy hopped around me, trying to deflect as many as she could with her sling bag, letting centrifugal force do the work for her. 'What am I doing… I can't just let her get hurt for me. 'Whipping out a blade, I fashioned a shield of sorts, made of used up ration cans. The blades came harder. Faster.

Thunk.

A section of the metal wall collapsed, unleashing the lava from the previous rooms. I sighed. 'Oh great. Not only we have to deal with these sharp blades, we have molten lava to deal with now. Marvellous work, Carrots.' Judy uttered a single word. 'Focus.' She continued deflecting the sharp blades.

All of a sudden, hot potatoes began to emerge, albeit on fire from the lava. 'Oops! Kind of switched on the food processor left by the humans. I'm sorry.' The voice… innocent sounding yet taunting at the same time.

The lava suddenly turned a darker shade of red, shimmering in an hostile way, inching closer… and closer… before receding.

The ground rumbled, as a suction system began vacuuming out the hot stuff while the knives began to decrease in the number. Hot exploded spuds were in numerous places: The ceiling, the floor, the poster in the background… wait. A poster? 'Ah, damn it. I've run out of ammunition. Might as well let you two die later.' It was nonchalant, as if it knew of something we did not. I walked closer to the poster, Judy following along to see what had intrigued me.

It was old, edges crumbling, caked with dust and had a yellowish tinge to it like a well-worn novel. It had a musty smell; containing secrets of times past. It stated: 'Decontamination room…' There was a tear in the poster. 'antechamber… reactor room… boiler room…' It was placed next to a map of this… 'Fallout facility?' I scrutinised the text, hoping to dig out a clue of what it meant. 'Built in 2050… before the Great War… nuclear warfare…2077…' 'Holy shit…' I whispered to myself. 'Animal testing… 2150… sentience… 2200… observation of Zootopia… commenced on 2300… 'I stood awestruck. All this time… our ancestors had been… observed? We were… just merely another experiment to this species. I seethed. Who were 'they' to play God? How could they… not care about our feelings, our hopes, our dreams… and use us as some test subject? And the voice… did it belong to one of them? That would explain everything… this was… just yet another experiment to test our ingenuity, without caring for the death of a life... our lives.

'So you found that poster… well done. Sadly, I've to disappoint by saying that I am not a _Homo Sapien Sapien,_ or however you say it. I am a _Canis Lupus Familiaris…_ ' A sharp intake of breath was heard from Judy. ' _Canis Lupus…Familiaris…_ domesticated… wolf?' Judy hissed. I blanked out, not understanding her words. 'Judy…' I was interrupted by the outburst that followed. 'You… learned their ways… you maniac… you. Are. No. Mammal. You… are a traitor.' The voice simply hummed away, whistling. 'Keep on speaking. I've heard all this and more. You think you can change me like you did to Nick? Well, dream on, lady. It's been nice playing with toys like you two… so durable. But I'm afraid it's time for the finale.' The walls tore themselves up… revealing the final trial.

A bloody open space unveiled itself ahead of us. Words… written in blood, some still dripping bit by bit onto the floor. The signs of mammal misery on the walls. Skulls… all over the floor, a clear depiction of a very possible fate. Carcasses… draping the floor like a tablecloth sent from Hades. And in front of us… a huge death trap. A machine of steel and blood. Red glowing mechanical eyes. Razor sharp blades of diamond as claws. Nine tails, all acting as whips to torture the selected victim that was unfortunate enough to be chosen. 'Ah… welcome to my domain.' The voice called out, louder this time. 'You might have noticed the unfortunate décor, but I don't really have the time to clean up, you know?' 'So now… let us see… we have Nicholas Piberius Wilde on the point to be turned savage, eh? Usually I just get some wild canines to kill my victim, but this time you came a pair. Perfect entertainment, eh?' Judy by this point was turning green, looking ready to puke at the sight of the gore, but she managed to hold it in, whilst spitting her statement with venom. 'You… are the real savage here, killing animals and enjoying it like the sadomasochistic bastard you are.' I kept quiet, knowing Judy didn't usually curse like this. The machine's eyes simply turned to look at her, with a hint of satisfaction in its eyes. 'We shall see… young doe.' Before I could duck, a pellet, possibly the same one Bellweather had utilised, cracked and split open on the back of my neck. The serum… soaking into my fur… the blood on my face… vision… turning… red.

Then it all went blank.

 _A/N: It's about time the fillers stopped. Here's to the imminent ending of this fanfiction. Meanwhile, I will start on a new fanfiction pretty soon. Peace out! :3 -TheShibe_


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